Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi has expressed doubt about his prospects in the upcoming FIDE Candidates 2026, ranking himself in the third tier while placing India's R Praggnanandhaa higher. In an interview, Yi highlighted the importance of experience and praised Praggnanandhaa's all-around skills. The tournament in Cyprus will determine the challenger to world champion D Gukesh.
The FIDE Candidates 2026 is set to take place from March 28 to April 16 at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, Cyprus. This eight-player event will decide the challenger for D Gukesh's world chess championship title later in 2026. Gukesh earned his spot by winning the previous Candidates tournament two years ago, where he defeated Ding Liren in the world championship match.
In a recent interview on the Chess with Mustreader YouTube channel with host Greg Mustreader, China's Wei Yi discussed his outlook for the tournament. Yi, who qualified for the event, was candid about his chances. "To be honest, I don’t think I have great chances to win the Candidates because if you want to win the Candidates, you need extensive experience," he said. He identified Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Anish Giri as strong favorites due to their experience.
Yi spoke highly of R Praggnanandhaa, the sole Indian participant, noting his prior involvement in the Candidates. "Pragg has great chances to win Candidates because I think he’s an all-around chess player. He also has experience of playing in the Candidates from two years ago. That’s also very important," Yi stated.
When prompted to create a tier list, Yi categorized the players based on their prospects. Tier one includes Caruana and Nakamura. Tier two features Praggnanandhaa and Giri. Yi placed himself in tier three alongside Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov, Russia's Andrey Esipenko, and Germany's Matthias Bluebaum. "Players like Esipenko and Bluebaum have a lower rating (than the rest of us), but I don’t think they are weak because their performance in the previous year was quite good. So I think all of us are in tier three," he added.
The tournament lineup also includes these players competing for the right to face Gukesh.
